Book Of The Day – The Witch Of Napoli

by Ron on September 4, 2015

Today’s Book of the Day is a Historical Fiction novel by Amazon bestselling author Michael Schmicker and it’s 75% off for a limited time. The Witch of Napoli has a 4.3 star rating and is on sale for only 99 cents – save $3!

“The Witch of Napoli is an exciting and thought provoking novel which I can highly recommend.” Pauline – Amazon Reviewer

Italy 1899: Fiery-tempered, seductive, medium Alessandra Poverelli levitates a table at a Spiritualist séance in Naples. A reporter photographs the miracle, and wealthy, skeptical, Jewish psychiatrist Camillo Lombardi arrives in Naples to investigate. When she materializes the ghost of his dead mother, he risks his reputation and fortune to finance a tour of the Continent, challenging the scientific and academic elite of Europe to test Alessandra’s mysterious powers. She will help him rewrite Science. His fee will help her escape her sadistic husband Pigotti and start a new life in Rome. Newspapers across Europe trumpet her Cinderella story and baffling successes, and the public demands to know – does the “Queen of Spirits” really have supernatural powers?

Nigel Huxley is convinced she’s simply another vulgar, Italian trickster. The icy, aristocratic detective for England’s Society for the Investigation of Mediums launches a plot to trap and expose her. Meanwhile, the Vatican is quietly digging up her childhood secrets, desperate to discredit her supernatural powers; her abusive husband Pigotti is coming to kill her; and the tarot cards predict catastrophe.

Inspired by the true-life story of controversial Italian medium Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918), The Witch of Napoli masterfully resurrects the bitter,19th-century battle between Science and religion over the possibility of an afterlife.

Here’s what the reviewers have to say:

The standout part of this story is Schmicker’s enviable ability to build atmosphere. I gasped when Alessandra was possessed by spirits, felt my heart sink when she lost her faith in herself, and I could practically smell the air of Naples even in my Midwestern living room. This is an incredible story about humanity, honor, belief, and the darkness inside people.

*******

This has to be one of the most engaging stories I have read in the past five years, and I have 863 books archived on my Kindle and nearly 200 on my Nook reader.While I am not a huge fan of paranormal novels I am always looking for one with the right characters and setting to pull me in. When they are well researched historical pieces, I am most susceptible to being hooked. This one is exceptional.

*******

For me personally, a measure of enjoyment in a book is how often I start and stop before finishing the book. This was a straight through read which held my interest with elements of drama, history and plain fun with each turn of the page. I hope success with this book will encourage more writings by Schmicker on the subject both Fiction and non-fiction. WELL DONE!

*******

I thoroughly enjoyed The Witch of Napoli and found it to be a delightful blend of both interesting characters and well-paced plot set in a rich historical place and time. Schmicker succeeds in his first fiction novel following two masterful non-fiction products. Bravo Mr. Schmicker. You clearly also have a talent for fiction. Now, get on with your second!

*******

Michael Schmicker draws on all his gifts as a journalist, student of the paranormal, and storyteller to make The Witch of Napoli—a novel about a nineteenth-century Italian medium named Alessandra Poverelli—captivating and compelling. I read it quickly, in three nights, and then started to read it again, savoring the story—and admiring Schmicker’s skill—more the second time.

Michael Schmicker is an investigative journalist, nationally-known writer on scientific anomalies, and author of the Amazon Top 100 historical fiction novel “The Witch of Napoli.” Michael began his writing career as a crime reporter for a suburban Dow-Jones newspaper in Connecticut, and worked as a freelance reporter in Southeast Asia for three years. He has also worked as a stringer for Forbes magazine, and Op-Ed contributor to The Wall Street Journal Asia.

Michael is the co-author of “The Gift, ESP: The Extraordinary Experiences of Ordinary People” (St. Martin’s Press, hardcover, paperback, e-book (USA); Rider/Random House (UK). His first book, “Best Evidence,” has emerged as a classic in the field of scientific anomalies reporting since its first publication in 2000.

Michael’s debut novel, “The Witch of Napoli” (January 2015), is historical fiction with a paranormal twist, set in Italy and England in 1899. On March 6, 2015 it made the Amazon Top 100, ranking #41 in paid books out of 3.3 million books available in the Kindle Bookstore. That same day, it hit #1 in both the Historical Fantasy and Victorian Historical Romance categories in three countries – the U.S., Canada and England. It has since earned a 2015 BRAG Medallion (Historical Fiction); a combined 178 five-star reviews from Amazon and Goodreads readers, and high praise from critics: Kirkus Reviews calls it “Impressive…an enchanting and graceful narrative that absorbs readers from the first page.” Huffington Post Books calls it haunting: “…science and the supernatural collide in a burst of passion you won’t soon forget.” The San Diego Book Review praises it as “One of a kind…a deeply moving novel you can’t put down,” while the Historical Novel Society finds it “Utterly absorbing…Highly recommended.” And the Literary Fiction Book Review calls it “Meticulously researched…a riveting tale of 19th century Europe and its obsession with the occult.”

Michael has been a featured guest on national broadcast radio talk shows, including twice on Coast to Coast AM (560 stations in North America, with 3 million weekly listeners). He also shares his paranormal investigations and writings through popular webcasts including Skeptiko, hosted by Alex Tsakiris; Speaking of Strange with Joshua Warren; the X-Zone, with Rob McConnell (Canada); and he even spent an hour chatting with controversial, spoon-bending celebrity Uri Geller on his program “Parascience and Beyond” (England). He reviews books for the Journal of Scientific Exploration; is a contributor to EdgeScience magazine; serves on the Board of Advisers of the Rhine Research Center; and is a member of both the American Society for Psychical Research as well as England’s venerable Society for Psychical Research.

His interest in investigating the paranormal began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand where he first encountered a non-Western culture and people who readily accept the reality of ghosts and spirits, reincarnation, psychics, mediums, divination,and other persistently reported phenomena unexplainable by current Science. Before joining Peace Corps, he studied documentary film production at New York University and the British Film Institute. He spent his first year in Bangkok teaching English to middle school students at the royal Buddhist monastery of Wat Bowonniwet, and the subsequent two years writing and producing with Thai colleagues a Sesame Street-inspired educational television series for the Thai Ministry of Education.

He lives and writes in Honolulu, Hawaii, on a mountaintop overlooking Waikiki and Diamond Head crater. And yes, the sunsets are spectacular. (He posts his Hawaii photos on www.google.com/+MichaelSchmicker).

He’s also an active member of the Goodreads online book lovers community.

Thank you for considering today’s Book Of The Day – Michael Schmicker and ENT appreciate it.

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Today’s Deals!

Book Of The Day

Mystery by award-winning author Carol Kilgore is 99 cents ~ save $3!

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A hot and spicy taste of murder—and beyond.

Law enforcement consultant Gracie Hofner is assigned to a trendy San Antonio pastry shop to watch for a delivery. In addition to the intoxicating aromas of sugar and chocolate, she also has to fight her own attraction to the man working beside her, Donovan Beck. He’s a hunk and a half and perfect for a spring fling.

If she had more time, Donovan would rank higher on her to-do list. But the number one spot is occupied by her search for a missing little girl, the target of a killer. Gracie needs to find her pronto, and the odd super-instinct quirk that’s started plaguing her may help. If not, she can always see what happens if it tells her to buy a lottery ticket.

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